Amir Khan

  • Full name Amir Khan
  • Birth date December 8, 1986
  • Birth place Bolton
  • Current age 37 years 102 days
  • Height 5 ft 8 in
Amir Khan replies to a question during a press conference in Karachi
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Amir Khan's claim for a place near the summit of the pound-for-pound list was shattered when he was blown away by Danny Garcia in the fourth round of their July 2012 meeting.

Born and raised in Bolton, Khan hit the headlines when making it to the final of the lightweight event at the Athens Olympics in 2004. He was beaten by Mario Kindelan but showed enough potential for some to suggest he could become a world champion.

Khan claimed in the aftermath of his efforts in Athens that he would look to go one better in Beijing in 2008, but he quickly had his head turned by the professional game. The Khan camp opted to tread a careful path to the top as he racked up a number of easy wins prior to a shot at the Commonwealth title - which he claimed when Willie Limond retired after eight rounds.

The Inter-Continental title followed and a couple of defences, one against the tough-as-teak Michael Gomez, appeared to put him on the brink of a world title shot. Khan stepped into the ring with Breidis Prescott but it proved his undoing as the Colombian overpowered Khan and knocked him out inside a minute.

The defeat to Prescott led to a change in coach, with Freddie Roach parachuted in, and it proved a masterstroke. Khan returned a more accomplished fighter against Oisin Fagin and then took the scalp of former world champion Marco Antonio Barrera - a fighter admittedly well past his best. The win over Barrera led to a world title shot against the Ukrainian Andreas Kotelnik and Khan showed real ring craft to clinch a unanimous points decision - the win bringing him the WBA light-welterweight title.

Khan's first defence against the previously unbeaten Dmitriy Salita was arguably his most impressive in the professional game, as he stopped the American inside 90 seconds and he went on to defend his crown at the famed Madison Square Garden with an equally impressive stoppage of Paulie Malignaggi.

Then came the real test - or, more specifically, the severe examination of his chin. The opponent was Marcos Maidana, an iron-fisted Argentinian with 27 stoppages in his 29 wins. Khan silenced his doubters with a commanding performance - although he was in serious trouble in the tenth.

After cruising past Paul McCloskey in April 2011, Khan went on to claim the IBF strap from Zab Judah three months later, only to surrender it, and the WBA crown, in his next bout against Lamont Peterson - who, it emerged after the fight, had illegally used synthetic testosterone before meeting Khan.

Khan was reinstated as WBA champion before his crushing loss to Garcia. In the aftermath, Khan announced the end of his working relationship with Roach and soon began training under Virgil Hunter, the man behind undefeated reigning WBA and WBC super-middleweight champion Andre Ward. In December 2012, in his first fight with Hunter, Khan stopped Carlos Molina in the 10th round in Los Angeles.

Career high: Winning the world title against Andreas Kotelnik.

Career low: Losing the WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles against Peterson

Quote: "I am going to stick to my clean image as I am so dedicated to my game," Khan said. "I know my boxing comes first and I am not going to sacrifice anything for it.

"I am very dedicated so I don't want to change anything or mess up over something stupid. I know what is right and what is wrong and I don't need distractions.

"Being young you do get stunning girls coming over to you but my friends enjoy it more than I do. Girls come over to me just to say: 'you are doing a great job'. But you learn about that stuff and what people like Tiger Woods have done. You think I am not going to make that same mistake. I don't really want to follow that route if I am going to stay clean."

Trivia: Helped darts' glamour girl Anastasia Dobromyslova prepare for the UK Open by allowing the Russian starlet to train at his gym in Bolton.

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Apr 27, 2013

Amir Khan catches Julio Diaz with an uppercut

Apr 27, 2013

Amir Khan lands a left-hook on Julio Diaz

Apr 27, 2013

Amir Khan lands a punch on Julio Diaz

Apr 27, 2013

Amir Khan celebrates a close win

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